For 10 years, Cindy Lowry was the Alaska field coordinator for Greenpeace.  Greenpeace is the largest independent direct action environmentalist group in the world.  In 1988, Lowry was involved in the rescue of 3 California Gray whales trapped in Artic ice that brought together the US and Russia amid the Cold War.  The story was closely followed by the media and drew audiences from around the globe.  The rescue, called Operation Breakout, cost over $1 million and took several weeks with the combined effort of local volunteers, Eskimo fishermen, government officials in the US and Russia, military personal from both, the ARCO oil company and Greenpeace.  Lowry’s efforts in Operation Breakout have been highlighted in the upcoming film, Big Miracle, being released February 3, 2012, starring Drew Barrymore as Greenpeace activist Rachel Kramer (Cindy Lowry).